In the fast-changing world of global financial markets, there is little chance Quebec’s regulatory body will have much time to catch its breath in the coming year.

“We have many important files to deal with,” says Mario Albert, the newly-appointed president and chief executive officer of the Autorité des marchés financiers, which oversees a wide range of financial institutions and transactions in the province, apart from federally chartered banks.

As examples of the work ahead, he points to public hearings on the proposed merger of the stock markets based in Toronto and Montreal (TMX) with the London Stock Exchange (LSE), ongoing investigations of fraud such as the Norbourg and Mount Real cases, studying the impact of the most recent financial crisis, developing a regulatory framework for money changing and cheque-cashing companies, and an ongoing education process for consumers. And if that’s not quite enough, the AMF will support the government of Quebec when it goes before the Supreme Court of Canada with Alberta to challenge the federal government’s plan to set up a national securities regulator.

The AMF wants to protect Montreal’s derivatives market, established when the Toronto and Montreal stock exchanges merged, along with the specialists, including their expertise and high-paying jobs. The AMF will want to know what guarantees will be offered to keep the derivatives market in Montreal in the proposal to merge the TMX with the LSE.

“It will be one of the key parameters to be discussed when public hearings on the merger begin” in late spring or early summer, Albert said. While there are risks to the merger, there will also be opportunities. That is why there will be public hearings.

Another question to be considered will be the indemnity fund for investors bilked by fraud artists such as Earl Jones and Vincent Lacroix, both sentenced to jail terms for their roles in schemes to defraud investors.

The fund, which is empty after reimbursing victims of various fraud schemes, is at a crossroads, Albert said, with some people wanting it to be enlarged and others looking at a type of insurance scheme to reimburse victims of fraud. Just who will pay for a broader indemnity mechanism is up in the air. Will it be investors or brokers? The answers are still to be worked out.

There will be a wide-ranging consultation with people in the financial community along with investors to determine the best path to follow. One area where there will be an ongoing focus is financial education of investors in an effort to combat fraud. The AMF has an enforcement staff of 112 following up complaints – more than double the number of a few years ago.

“We are like police on the road. We can’t be everywhere at once so it’s clear that investors will have to know when they are embarking on a risky venture,” Albert said. “Surveys show that a majority of the population has very little understanding of financial reality so it will be a challenge to reduce this figure,” he said. “It will be a long-term project.”

The AMF has partnered with media groups to publish special sections in newspapers and to produce TV shows to help increase investor awareness of fraud, Albert added. The AMF also plans to begin surveillance of an area of financial services that has remained relatively untouched up to now.

The National Assembly has laid the groundwork to provide rules and regulations for businesses which offer cash advances on paycheques, change money and own ATMs other than those owned by banks and credit unions. Albert said there are 4,000 ATMs in bars and convenience stores that will be included in the AMF’s jurisdiction.

“It is part of the financial industry that is not well known, although we know that some of them contribute to money laundering,” Albert said. The AMF will also take part in international meetings on the financial crisis of 2007-09 that has badly damaged the economies of several countries along with the real-estate and banking industries in the U.S.

While Canada emerged from the crisis in relatively good shape, the resulting damage to the housing industry in the U.S. has had a detrimental effect on Canadian suppliers and slowed the Canadian economy.

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